While former point guard
Jrue Holiday is celebrating an NSL Finals sweep, the key piece the Thunder got in return for him - Kemba Walker was busy working on a deal of his own. Walker has restructured his contract to allow the team upwards of $20 million in additional space pace/spending power in order to make sure the team does not have a repeat performance of their underwhelming 2020-2021 season. There was speculation that the Thunder may continue to roll towards a rebuild on the heels of the disappointing results from this campaign and the mid-year retirement of LaMarcus Aldridge. The team is oddly-spaced in age, with Kemba and
Seth Curry in the over-30 age bracket, a few talented ready-for-prime guys like
Julius Randle and Christian Wood and then a bevy of youngsters meant to guide OKC into the next phase. This contract restructure means Kemba is really putting the team's interests ahead of his own - that or there is something brewing behind the scenes where he's taking this paycut in order to get to a contender.
What this does do for the Thunder is that they can create a near-max salary spot of cap space which opens up the whole playbook and lets the front office really choose where they want to go for the next few seasons. However - there's a catch. With the unique circumstances of the deal, Kemba has effectively opted out of the next 2 years of his contract with the Thunder and is free to entertain offers from other teams. While there are certain to be interested teams, the Thunder's unique offer of familiarity and the ability to pay him with Bird Rights seem to put them in a position of strength to bring the guard back. This, combined with Devonte Graham's decision to force a sign and trade, despite being a restricted free agent - makes it likely that Kemba will be back with the Thunder this coming season. What they'll look to do with the remaining cap space remains to be seen.
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